


Elements of Acting

by Sarahastro



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Leverage
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-05
Updated: 2014-09-05
Packaged: 2018-02-16 06:23:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2259294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarahastro/pseuds/Sarahastro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sophie takes a special interest in one of her acting students, Jemma Simmons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Elements of Acting

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this tumblr post: http://saathi1013.tumblr.com/post/95336523003/kickass-ladies-of-mcu-aos-leverage-hanging-out

“There’s something odd about one of the students in my acting class,” Sophie says.

“Oh? Odd how?” Nate asks.

“She’s very cagey about herself. I asked all the students to go around and introduce themselves, and when it was her turn, it sounded like she was repeating something she’d rehearsed.”

“She rehearsed her own backstory?” He has the same look on his face that he used to get when he was analyzing a mark. “You think she’s a grifter?”

“If she is, she’s not a very good one. She was so nervous and awkward, it was obvious she was lying about something.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a mystery on your hands. What’s her name?”

“Jemma Simmons.”

*****

“How’s your mystery student?”

“Having some problems, I’m afraid. We did an exercise where we explored characters’ backgrounds and motivations, and she came back with a novel’s worth of material: how her house was laid out, where she went on vacation, what kind of cat she had…”

Nate smiles. “That sounds like some of your aliases.”

She shakes her head. “There’s a difference between details that inform the character and those that don’t. I tried to explain to her how to differentiate between the two.” She frowns. “It’s strange. She was so fixated on this exercise. She’s always a diligent student, but she really threw herself into this one, and she was so determined to correct her mistakes.”

*****

“How was class?”

“They’re doing very well. We’ve been working a lot on improvisation.” She smiles. “Jemma is doing really well. She struggled a bit at first, but she’s been working hard, and she’s gotten a lot better at thinking on her feet and reacting to her partner.”

“Is she trying to be an actress?”

“I asked her about that, and she said no. She said she thought it would help her with her work.”

*****

“Excuse me, Mrs. Ford?”

Sophie looks up to see a man in a dark suit. “We’re in the middle of a class, Mr. …”

“Coulson. I’m here to pick up one of your students, Jemma Simmons. She needs to leave immediately.”

Jemma jumps up. “Oh, Doctor Coulson, has there been a problem with the samples I left in the centrifuge?”

Sophie notices that his eyebrows raise slightly, and he hesitates for just a moment before saying, “Yes, you’re needed back at the lab immediately.”

“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Ford,” Jemma says. “I’m afraid I’ll have to leave class early today.”

Sophie looks at Jemma, then back at the man in the suit. Jemma looks at her with such an earnest expression, with none of the normal tells that give away when she is lying. But she cannot shake the nagging feeling that there is something strange going on here.

She thinks back to her first conversation about Jemma with Nate.

_“You think she’s a grifter?”_

_“If she is, she’s not a very good one.”_

Maybe she is a grifter, and Sophie has been helping her become a better one.

She smiles at Jemma and says, “I hope it’s nothing too serious.”

“I don’t think so, but we’re on a tight schedule with this experiment, so if there’s been a problem, I really need to get there and check on it to make sure we don’t fall behind on analyzing the samples.”

“Will we see you in class next week?”

“I’ll certainly do my best to be here.” Jemma’s expression softens slightly. “I really enjoy your class. I’ve learned a lot from you.”

“My pleasure, Jemma.”


End file.
